Wisconsin

A Republican lawmaker in Wisconsin wants to change how Wisconsin awards electoral votes — a proposal that spurred a swift, negative reaction Wednesday from Democrats who see the move as an attempt to help Republican presidential candidates.

Wisconsin joins at least two other states where changes to how Electoral College votes are being discussed heading into the 2012 presidential election. The 10 electoral votes in Wisconsin, which has a winner-take-all system, went to President Barack Obama in the 2008 election.

Wisconsin state Rep. Dan LeMahieu on Wednesday circulated a proposal for co-sponsors that make so a single electoral vote would go to the winner in each of Wisconsin’s eight congressional districts. The statewide winner would get two electoral votes.

Wisconsin: Madison gets serious about election administration – a once low-profile city service is now of intense interest to residents | The Daily Page

Nothing can rile a taxpayer quite like an unplowed street or missed garbage pickup. The delivery of basic services can make or break a mayoral career. But a funny thing happened in the last year or so: In two separate city surveys, Madison residents identified election administration as one of the priority services delivered by city employees. In one case, 94% of respondents who attended a community budget meeting on city administration said that election administration was of “high” importance to them, right after the provision of emergency medical service by the fire department but before bus, sewer, snow removal, recycling and refuse services.

A web survey of city residents conducted between July 26 and Sept. 1 had similar results: 72% of respondents rated election administration of high importance. That also ranked higher than such city services as park maintenance, street repair, the management of communicable diseases and traffic safety control.

City Clerk Marybeth Witzel-Behl says she was surprised — and gratified — by the results. “We always thought elections were the most sacred thing we deal with,” says Witzel-Behl. But, she adds, “I didn’t realize the community echoed that value.”

Wisconsin: New student IDs for voting could cost UW-Madison $700,000 every two years | madison.com

Wisconsin’s voter ID law will present new hurdles to some students and cost UW-Madison as much as $700,000 if the university provides all students new identification cards to comply with the law. It’s not clear how many students would use university IDs to vote, and school officials are waiting further clarification from the state Government Accountability Board about what kind of university ID would be acceptable at the polls.

All Wisconsin voters must present a valid photo ID in order to vote starting with the Feb. 21 spring primary, including a Wisconsin driver’s license, U.S. passport, military ID or tribal ID. College students without those forms of identification can use a university ID that includes a date of issuance, the student’s signature and an expiration date within two years of issuance. They must also present additional proof of enrollment.

Currently, UW student IDs do not comply with the voter ID law because they have five-year expiration dates and do not include signatures. “Students are extremely confused,” said Hannah Somers, an out-of-state UW-Madison student and legislative affairs chairwoman for Associated Students of Madison, UW’s student government. “I’ve heard students say ‘I’m just going to vote absentee at home because that’s going to be easier.'”

Wisconsin: Legislature may not allow voters to receive ballots by email – JSOnline

A new, little-noticed state law guarantees voters can receive absentee ballots by email, but it may not be on the books for long. When legislators in May adopted a requirement that voters show photo ID at the polls, they also changed the law to ensure voters can receive absentee ballots by email if they ask for them. While voters can receive the ballots by email, they still have to return them by traditional mail or drop them off in person.

But in June, the state Senate included a provision in another bill that would repeal the requirement that municipal clerks email absentee ballots to all voters who request them. The clerks would still have to email absentee ballots to military and overseas voters, but not other voters.

Repealing the provision on emailed ballots was tucked into a bill that would move the partisan primary from September to August. Moving the primary is required to comply with a federal law meant to ensure military and overseas voters have enough time to return their ballots.

Wisconsin: Federal election official presses Wisconsin lawmakers to change fall primary date | The Republic

October 13, 2011

Federal election officials are pressing Wisconsin legislators to pass a bill that would shift the state’s fall primary from September to August.

The bill would bring the state into compliance with the federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, which mandates that states mail ballots for federal elections to those voters at least 45 days before an election.

Wisconsin: New state voter ID law faces snags | The Oshkosh Northwestern

October 13, 2011

The line stretching out the meeting room door and down the hall was the first visible sign that implementing the state’s new voter ID law may not be so easy — for voters or poll workers. For three hours Tuesday, the city of Madison conducted a small mock election inside the City-County Building. It was designed to help officials work out the kinks in a process that by February will require voters have photo IDs or fill out detailed provisional ballots.

The new rules, signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker in May, were meant to address concerns about possible voter fraud. But as the mock election Tuesday proved, sometimes “secure” equals “slower.”

“This will take people longer to do, there is no getting around that,” said Dane County Clerk Karen Peters, who attended Tuesday’s vote as an observer. “Voters will just have to be patient, because there is a lot that goes into this.”

Wisconsin: Legislation introduced to exempt seniors from voter ID | Badger Herald

October 12, 2011

A state senator announced Monday he will propose legislation to exempt senior citizens from the recently signed voter ID law. Sen. Tim Carpenter, D–Milwaukee, is currently looking for co-sponsors for the legislation, and expects to introduce the bill by the end of the week. The proposal would allow registered seniors who are above the age of 65 to vote without having to present any identification, according to a statement from Carpenter.

The voter ID law, signed by Gov. Scott Walker on May 25 of this year states that starting next year, all registered Wisconsin voters will be required to present a valid, state-issued identification card in order to vote in any election.

“The voter ID bill prevents election fraud by requiring that the voter prove that they actually are who they say they are. In the past if someone else next to me says, ‘yeah that’s who he is,’ [the election attendants] will believe it,” Andrew Welhouse, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said.

Wisconsin: Madison clerk conducts mock election, finds voter ID regulations slows process | Isthmus

October 12, 2011

Dozens of community members lined up to cast fake ballots for their favorite sports teams and tailgating food Tuesday as part of a mock election conducted by the Madison City Clerk. The trial run was to prepare for the full implementation in 2012 of the Republican-backed voter ID bill.

City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl said the city is making voter ID education a top priority throughout the rest of the year, with 74 educational presentations planned. The mock election was to prepare election officials as well as voters for what to expect on a future Election Day.

Wisconsin: Government Accountability Board fails faster recall rules, evaluates Voter ID stickers | The Badger Herald

October 8, 2011

On Thursday, state election officials retracted changes which could have circulated recall petitions for the possible upcoming recall efforts more efficiently, including the effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker. At a meeting Thursday, the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules oversaw several of the Government Accountability Board’s retracted plans to recall election operations, including the distribution of online petitions.

At the meeting, Kevin Kennedy, head of the GAB, said the rule changes previously sought would allow an individual to open a “petition for recall” online with both their name and address on the form, increasing the speed of the petition’s circulation. This petition would also be considered valid even if this individual was the only one to sign the petition, he said.

Kennedy said this proposition would have allowed for a faster process because groups would not have to gather the signatures face-to-face and the petition signers would not have to fill in their addresses.

Wisconsin: Lots of Attention for Waukesha County Clerk After Report Confirms Election Violations | Waukesha, WI Patch

October 7, 2011

Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus won’t face any criminal charges for the Supreme Court election results mess caused when she failed to tell anyone about Brookfield’s votes. This week, her actions are getting plenty of attention.

An independent probe into the situation foundNickolaus likely violated state elections laws inher bungled release of state Supreme Court election results in April, but her conduct was not willful or criminal. Read the report.

On Monday, the Appleton Post Crescent wrote in an editorial that Nickolaus should be punished.The paper said it believes her mistake was “an honest mistake,” but that sometimes even those need to be punished.

Wisconsin: Voter Photo ID: No Policy Yet on College Students’ Identification | WUWM

October 7, 2011

Debate continues in Madison over Wisconsin’s new photo ID law. It takes full effect in February, but some rules are not yet settled. For instance, what identification should college students use?

As WUWM’s Ann-Elise Henzl reports, election officials are floating a new possible solution. Wisconsin’s photo ID law allows college and university students to use their school IDs at the polls — with the exception of technical college IDs. The state presumes those students live nearby.

However, no student IDs in Wisconsin meet the new law’s requirements, according to the Government Accountability Board. Kevin Kennedy directs the non-partisan agency, which oversees elections. “The key elements that I think were missing in most cases were an issuance date, an expiration date that was within two years of that, and the student’s signature. Those were the key issues,” Kennedy says.

Wisconsin: Government Accountability Board changes course on voter ID law

October 7, 2011

Officials with the Government Accountability Board have backed away from two controversial interpretations of election laws that some argued would have made it easier for college students to vote and political organizations to recall politicians.

The move, announced just prior to a meeting by the Legislature’s body that reviews agency rules, came in response to Republican concerns last week that the policies could lead to cases of voter fraud. The change by GAB officials led Democrats to immediately accuse the nonpartisan agency of succumbing to pressure by the majority party.

Wisconsin: Fee waiver pushed for copies of birth certificates | JSOnline

October 5, 2011

Reacting to a new state law that requires photo identification for voting, some state and local officials are pushing to waive the $20 fee for copies of Milwaukee County birth certificates.

Earlier this year, the Legislature adopted the voter ID law, which says voters must show one of several approved forms of photo identification – such as a driver’s license – at the polls, starting next year. For those who don’t have a driver’s license, lawmakers provided for the state Division of Motor Vehicles to waive fees for state ID cards at a voter’s request.

But applicants still need copies of their birth certificates to obtain either driver’s licenses or state ID cards. And state law sets fees of $20 for the first copy and $3 for subsequent copies. That’s $60 for a family with one voting-age child “to exercise the constitutional right of voting,” state Sen. Spencer Coggs (D-Milwaukee) told a Milwaukee Common Council committee Monday. “That just seems like it’s a poll tax.”

Wisconsin: Can students vote in the next election? | The UWM Post

September 30, 2011

More than 9,000 students at UW-Milwaukee could be ineligible to vote in future Wisconsin elections without substantive modifications to university ID cards. Based on previous studies, The UWM Post estimates that 9,179 students, approximately 30 percent of the campus, do not have valid, state-issued driver’s licenses, a prerequisite to voting in upcoming elections.

Black students ages 18 to 24 will be impacted most by the Voter ID Bill, on average being 27.5 percent less likely than white students to have a Wisconsin driver license, according to a 2005 study conducted by UWM’s Employment and Training Institute.

Hispanic students ages 18 to 24 will also be impacted considerably, with Hispanic women being 28 percent less likely than white women to have a driver license, and Hispanic men being 17 percent less likely than white men. Junior Julio Guerrero, chairman of the Latino Caucus of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said the bill will have a negative impact for students and Latinos alike.

Wisconsin: GOP lawmakers consider changes to recall petition process | JSOnline

Republican lawmakers signaled Tuesday that they will likely give Gov. Scott Walker authority over how recall petitions can be gathered, just as Democrats gear up to recall him next year.

The move would allow Walker to halt a policy developed by nonpartisan election officials that, at least in theory, could make it easier for groups to gather signatures to recall the governor, as well as legislators from either party. “You have given the governor control of the chicken coop, so to say,” Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) told Republicans.

But GOP lawmakers raised concerns that election officials had gone too far with their interpretation of state laws and said the governor and lawmakers should have a chance to weigh in on them. Under the changes Republicans are considering, Walker would also get to decide whether universities can put stickers on their identification cards that would allow them to be used for voting.

Wisconsin: Moves to change recall election misguided | Political Heat

There’s been a strong push as of late, by Republican legislators in the state and news media alike, to restrict the terms under which recall elections can occur. This call has come after an historic nine recall elections occurred this year alone, more than doubling the number of recalls that had previously been seen at the state legislative level.

… To alter the conditions of recalls would also ignore the intent of what recalls were all about. Our state constitution doesn’t limit why recalls can happen — in fact, no recall election at the legislative level has ever occurred on the bases or merits that the proposed constitutional amendment would restrict them under.

Wisconsin: Election Official Violated Law, but won’t be Charged in Supreme Court Vote Tally | WUWM

The state Government Accountability Board has concluded an investigation into the behavior of Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus after the April election for state Supreme Court. The board says Nickolaus violated the law by not posting all returns on election night.

However, the board says her violation was not willful, and therefore did not constitute criminal misconduct. Initial results on election night posted by Nickolaus showed challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg with a narrow lead over Justice David Prosser.

Two days after the election, Nickolaus announced that she had previously failed to report 14,000 votes. With the additional votes turned in, Prosser pulled into the lead.

Wisconsin: Independent investigator: Waukesha Clerk likely violated election law | 620 WTMJ

An independent investigation for the Government Accountability Board has found probable cause to believe that Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus violated state election law on the night of the Supreme Court Election. However, the investigator also found that the violation was not willful and therefore does not constitute criminal misconduct.

Nickolaus failed to report results from Brookfield on election night. The failure led to an initial vote total that showed the race was too close to call. Nickolaus caught the mistake before reporting final vote totals.

“It was pretty clear to me that there wasn’t fraud,” said, former Dane County Prosecutor Tim Verhoff who conducted the investigation.

Wisconsin: No action on voter ID in state legislature | The Oshkosh Northwestern

Republican leaders are considering a move that could make it easier for Gov. Scott Walker to fight off a potential recall election in January.

The Legislature’s rules committee ended its meeting Tuesday without voting on two new Government Accountability Board (GAB) policies dealing with changes in technology and vagaries in the state’s new photo voter ID law. But the committee’s co-chairwoman said she heard enough testimony to warrant further investigation and possible action in the near future.

Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, said nothing she heard during the three-hour meeting allayed her fears about the new policies by the state’s election watchdog agency. Republican leaders say the rules endanger “clean, fair elections across the board in Wisconsin.”

Wisconsin: Student ID stickers to vote under voter ID law criticized | The Daily Cardinal

The Fitzgerald brothers requested Monday that a legislative committee review the legality of a statewide policy that allows universities and colleges to put stickers on student identification cards for students to vote under Wisconsin’s new voter ID law.

The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board decided earlier this month to allow stickers on student IDs with the information now required to vote—an issuance date, a student signature and an expiration date—under the Republican-backed law.

This move came after critics of the law argued it would marginalize student voters originally from outside the state, because no Wisconsin college currently has IDs with the necessary details and the process to change IDs would be costly.

Wisconsin: DA looking at voter bribery accusations | JSOnline

Milwaukee County prosecutors have opened a John Doe investigation into voter bribery allegations stemming from last month’s state Senate recall elections, according to sources.

Details of the secret investigation are sketchy, but it is clear the Milwaukee County district attorney’s office is investigating charges that Wisconsin Right to Life offered rewards for volunteers who signed up sympathetic voters in the recall races. Several people familiar with the investigation said subpoenas were being distributed “like candy.”

Prosecutors had earlier acknowledged that they also were looking into complaints about get-out-the-vote block parties sponsored by a liberal group, Wisconsin Jobs Now. But Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf, who investigates election law violations, now won’t discuss either matter. “Absolutely no comment,” Landgraf said.

Wisconsin: Voter ID hearing on short notice ripped by Democrats | Green Bay Press Gazette

Democrats blasted Republicans on Tuesday for hastily convening a hearing on how state election officials plan to handle photo identification requirements for student voters and online recall petitions, accusing the GOP of using the process to put the decisions directly in Gov. Scott Walker’s hands.

The Republican-controlled Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules called a hearing on barely 24 hours’ notice to discuss the Government Accountability Board’s new policies on student IDs and downloadable recall petitions with an eye toward directing the board to adopt rules to its liking. The committee ultimately adjourned without taking any action.

Democrats on the committee questioned why the panel was even meeting and suggested Republicans who control it wanted to give Walker, a Republican who faces a potential recall push next year, the ability to make collecting signatures against him more difficult and suppress the student vote.

Wisconsin: Legislative panel to review Government Accountability Board rulings on voter ID law | WisPolitics.com